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three home runs and 12 RBI, No. 1/1 University of Florida shutout Florida
A&M, 12-0, in five innings on Friday night in the nightcap of day one of
the Gainesville Regional.

The Gators
(56-3) tallied 10 hits, six for extra bases, in the win. Every starting player
reached base and eight starters recorded at least one hit, both by the second
inning. The three Gator bombs brought the season total to 79, tying the
Southeastern Conference record for single-season home runs, set by the 2007
Alabama Crimson Tide. Florida also broke its program record for single-season
RBI, as it has collected 367 this season. The 2008 team held the record with
361.

Sophomore Stephanie
Brombacher (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) picked up her 21st win of the
season, striking out seven while allowing one walk and two hits in her five
innings of work. She moves to 41-0 in her career. Amanda Reyes (22-19)
shouldered the loss for the Rattlers (30-31).

Sophomore Aja
Paculba (Wildomar, Calif.) turned in a perfect 2-for-2 performance with two
runs scores, three RBI, a walk and a home run. Senior Kristina Hilberth
(Dunedin, Fla.) went 2-for-3 while junior Corrie Brooks (Christmas, Fla.) tallied a team-high four RBI.

It didn’t
take long for the Gators to score as Paculba led off the bottom of the first
with a homer to left field. Hilberth kept the momentum going with a single up
the middle and senior Ali Gardiner (Waccabuc, N.Y.) walked to put
runners on first and second. Sophomore Kelsey Bruder (Corona, Calif.) nailed a double to center to score Hilberth and move Gardiner to third. Brooks
recorded her fourth sacrifice fly of the season, scoring Gardiner. Sophomore Megan
Bush (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) follwed with a two-out home run to right
center, giving Florida a 5-0 lead.

After
Brombacher struck out two of the three batters she faced, UF added seven more
to its lead in the second. Paculba walked and Hilberth chopped one to short
and beat the throw to give the Gators two base runners with no outs. Gardiner
drew her second walk of the day to load the bases and Enea knocked two in with
a single up the middle. Brooks tallied her 10th long ball of the
season with a three-run bomb to dead center.

Bush kept
the inning alive by drawing a two-out walk and senior Kim Waleszonia (Fontana, Calif.) doubled to left center to move both runners into scoring position.
Paculba recorded her second hit, this one up the middle, to clear the bases and
give the Gators a 12-run lead after two full innings.

Melissa
Oliphant record FAMU’s first hit of the game in the top of the fourth with a
single to left. Nicole Terryn added another single to right to put two
Rattlers on, but Bush caught a line drive and threw to second to double up
Oliphant and end the inning. Brombacher retired the final five batters to end
the game.

The Gators
will take on Texas A&M, who beat Lehigh, 1-0, in game one, at 1 p.m. on
Saturday. Florida A&M will square off with Lehigh at 3:30 p.m. The loser
of the first game and the winner of the second will play at 6 p.m. All the
Regional action can be followed with free web streaming and live stats.
Please visit www.gatorzone.com and
click on the 2009 NCAA Softball Tournament link.

Post-Game
Quotes

Second
Baseman Aja Paculba

“We take
it game by game. One game rolls into another and we take that momentum into the
next game.”

“My [lead
off] home run helped to set the tone for how our offense was going to perform
tonight. It told the rest of the team what the pitching was going to be like
for the night.”

Head
Coach Tim Walton

“It feels
good to get things going in the right direction going into this weekend. I’m
really excited with the way that we opened up today. We did a really good job
capitalizing on the pitches that we were able to hit. I was very impressed with
the quality of the at bats from our team today.”

FAMU

Junior
Pitcher Amanda Reyes

“I knew
coming in that they had a lot of power and they lived up to our expectations.
They were what I expected and I did what I could.”

Junior
Shortstop Melissa Oliphant

“It’s all
about confidence. We’re playing some great teams in this regional tournament
and it’s about staying within yourself and staying as a unit.”

“After our
first at bat, we did make the adjustments. We were able to make contact and
stay relaxed. Stephanie [Brombacher] is a great pitcher and it’s all about
adjustments.”

Coach
Veronica Wiggins

“We were
playing a great team. Our players got excited and sometimes our emotions allow
us to become overwhelmed. Once they realized that they were other athletes
making plays, they settled down. But in the beginning the adrenaline was going
and everybody was so anxious. We got the best out of the way, now we feel like
we can compete.”